Raisin-cleaner



w. STONER.

RAISIN CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24| 1920.

1,384,494. Patented July 12, 1921.

n n ll'll ll ll V EN TOR. M wa T ORNEYS.

UNITEPSTATES PA ENT;OF IC? WILLIAM s'rorrnrtyor sa simeim m iRAISE-CLEANER;

To all whom it may concern: y 4

Be it known thatI; WILLIAM S'roNnR, a citizen of the United States, andresident, of Fresno, inf't'he' county of Fresno and the State ofCalifornia, have invented anew and useful Improvement inRaisin-Cleaners, of which the following isra specification.

My invention relatesv to a machine for cleaning the"loosefleaves andstems from raisins ancl'similar fruits. .My present invention is amodificationof thatldescribe d in my application filed December 16,1919., Serial No.;345., 325. I l j j It is well kn'own re apse aminewith the dried fruit and. raisinindustry that when the fruit and raisinsare broiiglit to the packing house much of the naturalgrowth of stemsare thereon and some leaves, that the raisins are then subjectedto aprocess which break the stems therefrom, that there- 1 after .they jarerun over a screen by which the small particles of stems andleaves areeliminated, but that it. has, always heretofore been impossible toseparate the larger stems and leaves from the raisins except laboriouslyby hand work. i

The object of my invention is, to thoroughly clean raisins and similardried fruits ofstems and leaves. Other objects will be apparent from areading of this specification..' I

I accomplish these. objects by means of the device hereinafter describedand illustrated on the accompanying drawing in which; Figure 1 is a sideview of the device complete.

Fig. 2 is a top view of Fig.1.. In said drawing B is a rectangular frameconsisting of parallel bottom pieces 2 and 2 upright posts arranged inpairs 3 and 3 3 and 3, and 3 and 3, which are attached at the lower endto bottom pieces 2 and 2 and upper,

plates 4 and 4 5 and 5 are parallel horizontal cross supports extendingbetween cross supports 3 and 3, and 3 and 3*. Supports v5 and 5 carry ashaft 6 on journals attached to said supports. 'Shaft 6 carries a drivewheel 8 and a drum C. Drum C is located on the shaft between thesupports 5 and 5". Its periphery is formed of a smooth surface,preferably metal and extending radially therefrom are a plurality ofprojections 14. which I have found advisable in experiments to formabout five inches long. I have arranged these projections in staggeredrows and approximately one inch apart. It is herein noted that theseprojec- V a portion of post 15 is broken away.

Specification-"of Letters Patent. Patented y Application fi led March24,1920 SerialiNp 368533, 3 4 i ndte dfand they ma be placed closertogether for farther apart depending; largely on the character o f thefruit it is. desired to clean. Drum Chas flanges C and C ,onthe endshereof; is a shaker pivoted to upright v at na ever 9. n i 9*? wh artatedfby an eccentric 10, rotated; by a. shaft 10*. Wis the eccentricarm; which directly connects wlth a, rocker arm 9?, iwhichmoves tionscan, be longer or shorter than iabove vibrating lever 93." Shaker: Disiarranged so pulley on shaft, 12toa pulley $9130 rotate the drum. 13?is a; belt froma pulley 8 to a pulley on shaft12 to operatethe fan and.

13? is a belt from a pulley S on shaft 10 to a pulley on shaft 12 tooperate theshaker. Bythis means it will he noted that the drum C rotatesaway fromthe. shaker, the shaker deposits fruitywhich may be'therein tothe periphery on the upper sideofnthe drum, and fan E directs a currentofair through the fruit as itfallse-from'the shaker to the surface ofthe drum. The raisins being comparatively, round; and 9 heavier than thestems, and the surface of the drumibeing smooth, the raisins will rolldownward on the periphery of the drum between the projections 14, whilethe stems will be either blown backward or become entangled in theprojections 14 and are carried to, and drop from the opposite side ofthe drum on which n the raisins and fruit is deposited. 15 and 15 areupright posts extending upward on plates 4 and P on line with a verticaldiameter of drum C. Posts 15 and 15' are parallel and in Fig. 1 post 15is shown where 15 and 15 are braces for posts 15. G is a baffle boardextending across'the periphery of the drum between posts 15 and 15 andis pivoted thereto so that the angle of the bafiie board is adjustable.This board is in line with the current ofair from fan E. j

' Raisins are not uniform in specific gravity and frequently it isnecessary to change the j approximately vertical and the heavy. IZai-i:

sins will roll over the smooth surface of the drum toward the side wherethe raisins are to be deposited. The lighter raisins however may undersuch adjustment be blown too far forward on the drum, and roll overwiththe stems. To overcome this objection the lower end of the baffleboard is moved toward the shaker so'that the raisinsblown against itwill roll to a portion of the drum 1 shaker.

. for operating the device.

where the surface is steeper and where the action of gravity ontheraisins is less hin- 'deredthan when they aredeposited nearer the topof the cylinder. 30 is the main belt H is ascreen extending from a pointunder the shaker to a spaced distance from the periphery of drum G andthence bent in conformity with the drum downward, and adjusted a spaceddistance therefrom. Screen H can be attached "to plates .4 and 4 Thisscreen should extend a short dis tance' under the shaker; D but shouldbe spaced from theshaker and from the rocker arm" 9 so the shakerorrocker arm will not touch the screen in the movement of the It will benoted that this screen forms a slide for the raisins and the current ofair from fan E passes through it. The curved portion of the screen isintended to pvercome any centrifugal motion imparted to the raisins andto uniformly direct the direction of the flow-of the raisins. The sizeofthe pulleys operating drum C, fan E and shaker D can be determined bythe respective speeds at which these various parts 'should be operated.30' is the main belt for drivingshaft 12. 7 I claim as new and ask forLetters Patent 1. In a device of thecharacter described the combinationof a rotatable drum'having .asmooth outersurface and a plurality of pinsextending radially therefrom, means for rotating the drum, ashaker-adapted to deposit; fruit to be cleaned upon the periphery. ofthe drum at a point thereon where .its'rotation gives the periphery anupward movement, a fan adjusted to direct a current of air approximatelytoward the periphery of the drum and adjacentto the discharge of theshaker; substantially as described and for the purposes set'forth.

2. In a device of the character. described the combination of arotatable drum having a smooth exterior and a plurality of radiallydisposed pinsprojecting from the periphery, a shaker adapted todischarge fruit on the portion of the periphery of the drum' having anupward 'movem'ent 'in its rotation, means for directing a current of airbetween the drum and the discharge open} ing in the shaker, and a bafileboard pivoted above the drum on line with its lineal di- V ameter, andin the path of said air current,

.3. In a device'of thecharacter described the combinationof a rotatabledrum having a normally. smooth exterior and a plurality ofradiallydisposed pins projecting'b'eyond the periphery, a shaker adapted todischarge fruit on the portion of the periphery which has an upwardmovement-in the rotation of the drum, means for directing a current ofair across the path of the fruitas it drops from the shaker toward theperiphery of the drum, a battle board extending across the face of thedrum normally in line with the vertical radius of the drum, a bafiieboard extending across the face of the drum'normally in linewiththevertical radius extension, and adapted to be moved so that the lower endis nearer to the discharge opening substantially as described.

Witnesses: V i

CLEO K. CURTIS, LoMA' HoBE'.

. WILLIAM STONER.

